英國《每日郵報》7月4日報道，據(jù)一項研究發(fā)現(xiàn)，野生未馴養(yǎng)的鴿子能夠識別每個人的臉，而且不會因為換了衣服就不認得了。
雖然在實驗室里受過訓練的鴿子可以表現(xiàn)出超強的感知能力，但是這項新的研究是第一次針對未經(jīng)訓練的野生鴿子。實驗表明它們具有同樣的能力。
在巴黎市中心的一個公園里，兩名體型和膚色都相似的研究人員穿著不同顏色的實驗室工作服去喂一群鴿子。
其中一名研究員完全不理會鴿子們過來吃食；而另一名研究院則懷著敵意將它們趕走。
接下來的第二階段實驗則是兩名研究人員都不驅(qū)趕這群鴿子。
這項研究重復了幾次，鴿子們始終能夠認出那個趕他們走的研究人員，并避開他，盡管他后來不再如此驅(qū)趕鴿子。
在實驗期間交換實驗室工作服也沒有使這些鴿子混淆，它們?nèi)匀粫荛_那個最初不太友好的實驗人員。
法國巴黎西部南戴爾拉德芳斯大學從事此項研究的研究員達莉拉•博韋說：“很可能這些鴿子能夠認出研究人員的臉�！�
博韋補充說：“這種識別能力可能是由于鴿子從早期馴養(yǎng)到多年城市生活中與長期與人打交道的結(jié)果�！�
Feral, untrained pigeons can recognize individuals and are not fooled by a change of clothes, according to a study.
Although pigeons have shown remarkable feats of perception when given training in the lab, the new study is the first research showing similar abilities in untrained feral pigeons.
In a park in Paris city centre, pigeons were fed by two researchers, of similar build and skin color, wearing different colored lab coats.
One individual simply ignored the pigeons, allowing them to feed while the other was hostile, and chased them away.
This was followed by a second session when neither chased away the pigeons.
The experiment, which was repeated several times, showed that pigeons were able to recognize the individuals and continued to avoid the researcher who had chased them away even when they no longer did so.
Swapping lab coats during the experiments did not confuse the pigeons and they continued to shun the researcher who had been initially hostile.
Dr Dalila Bovet， a co-author of the study from the University of Paris Ouest Nanterre La Défense, said: “It is very likely that the pigeons recognized the researchers by their faces."
Dr Bovet added: “This specialized ability may have come about over the long period of association with humans, from early domestication to many years of living in cities.”
時間：2011-7-8 21:38:00
